


Special Something-Else

by Bloodsbane



Category: Mumintroll | Moomins Series - Tove Jansson, 楽しいムーミン一家 | Moomin (Anime)
Genre: (he and snufkin are not... yet???), (many of the main cast is mentioned at least once), (moomintroll & snorkmaiden are dating), Acceptance, Established Relationship, F/M, Jealousy, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Snorkmaiden POV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-04
Updated: 2019-04-04
Packaged: 2020-01-04 21:07:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18351731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bloodsbane/pseuds/Bloodsbane
Summary: Snorkmaiden considers her relationship with Moomintroll, andhisrelationship with Snufkin.---Don't be discouraged by the Jealousy tag, this is nothing mean-spirited; it's just about Snorkmaiden realizing some things and deciding how she feels. Her character definitely seems like the jealous type, if only slightly.





	Special Something-Else

**Author's Note:**

> A few notes:
> 
> 1) I use Moomintroll's full name in the narration, but he is referred to as just "Moomin", like a sort of nickname. Sounds more natural to me.
> 
> 2) Snufkin has 'human' hands and no tail in this, because I'm slightly enamored with him being so different a creature from the Moomins. If I ever do a companion piece of this from Moomin's POV (very likely), that'll be a main focus. I also refer to Snufkin as a 'mumrik', which appears to be another way of saying his name in Swedish(?), and here I use it as his species.
> 
> 3) I'm new to the Moomin universe and have mainly been watching the 1990 anime, so that's my main point of reference. Sorry if anything seems inconsistent with the overall canon.
> 
> Anyway, this was really fun and relaxing to write. Something about the Moomin universe is so comfortable, I didn't feel stressed or hyper-critical of myself while writing/editing this at all. I really hope you guys enjoy it, and I hope to write more soon.

There were many things that Snorkmaiden knew for sure. She had a very clever brother after all, and learned plenty from him; she knew Moominpappa and Moominmamma, and they were both very wise. And of course, Snorkmaiden herself was observant, liking to listen in and think about this and that, turn her considerate gaze on any such thing which caught her interest.

Snorkmaiden knew the primroses would bloom almost as soon as Snufkin returned to Moominvalley, as if they came carried on the bottoms of his boots, sticky seeds hitchhiking from far, far away to rest here in softer soil.

She knew bananas were Moomintroll’s favorite fruit because he liked the smell of them, and he liked peeling them; he loved their bright yellow color and they went nicely with things like chocolate or peanut butter or any sort of breakfast, and because they were tropical they were a rare treat. And Moomintroll liked rarities.

Snorkmaiden knew Little My’s favorite color was purple, and though she held no love for flowers, wouldn’t turn her nose up at a particularly fragrant one - even she could stop and appreciate something if it was worth a sniff.

Ah, Sniff. Snorkmaiden knew he was afraid of the ocean, and disliked swimming. She knew he could nap as long as a cat and he had a soft spot for money of any sort, but especially the newer coins with shiny faces that caught the light like jewelry.

Snorkmaiden knew a lot about plants and flowers, a little about cooking, a little less about cleaning, and just enough to get by when it came to sewing.

But there were some things Snorkmaiden knew, absolutely and for certain.

She knew that she loved Moomintroll. She knew that Moomintroll felt the same about her. She was Moomintroll’s Special Somebody.

She also knew that Snufkin was… Well. If Snorkmaiden was Moomintroll’s Special Somebody, Snufkin was his Special… Something-Else.

❀❊❀❊❀❊

In her many years, Snorkmaiden has discovered that the easiest way to understand something is to ask when you’re not sure. She had no problem asking Moominmamma questions - of course, Moominmamma always seemed to know the answers to anything. But Snorkmaiden never asked about this, even though she had many, many questions.

What did it mean, exactly, that Moomintroll spent so much time with Snufkin? What did it mean that they would go off together, sometimes at night (yes, she knew they did this; one time she’d been up late and staring out her window and she had seen them, two specks of a secret moving in the dark together, not even very close but very, very alone). Should she be concerned? No one else seemed to think it odd. If Snufkin was a girl, would they mind then? Certainly Snorkmaiden would have minded then, she thought. Because while it was fine for Moomintroll to talk to other girls and have friends who were girls, like Too-Ticky or even Mymble, she wouldn’t like it if he spent that much time with a girl who wasn’t her. She might think he liked that girl better than her, that maybe he would want her to be his girlfriend instead.

And of course normally Snorkmaiden would say it was fine for two boys to spend all the time they wanted together. That seemed right, didn't it? Boys enjoyed each other’s company. Sometimes a lad might enjoy cooking or talking about cleaning and making clothes or flowers or the weather or preparing tea, and that was fine, but most of the boys Snorkmaiden knew preferred to run around and climb things and explore. She liked to explore, but sometimes it was nice to just be with someone else like Moominmamma or even Little My, who thought about things differently and cared about them in a way that the boys simply did not.

So… was it strange? Was it strange that Moomintroll liked to go on long walks with Snorkmaiden  _and_  Snufkin? That he liked to be alone with them, sometimes not even talking? Snorkmaiden preferred to talk - she liked to think out loud. She thought her voice played nicely with the sounds of a river or birds singing. She knew that sometimes Moomintroll could be very quiet, though. Did they ever sit together with no talking at all? Maybe Snufkin didn’t even need to play his harmonica. Snufkin didn’t strike her as the type to fill in an empty pocket with something, anything, just because he could.

Maybe Moomintroll even preferred their shared silence.

❀❊❀❊❀❊

It was like this. He got this look in his eyes. Snorkmaiden saw it, every now and then, when Snufkin was around or about to arrive. His tail would wag just so, and she could see vibrations race through his whole body, and his eyes- they would shine. His ears would twitch this way, that way, searching for something like the click of a boot heel, the soft _shff-shff_ of Snufkin’s trousers as he walked. Reaching out, before he’d even seen the mumrik.

Snorkmaiden knew Moomintroll looked at her like that too, sometimes. If they’d been separated for a few days or even a week or even two weeks (as things could get quite busy), and especially at the end of winter, after months had passed, his entire body would go bright like snow in sunlight when he saw her. His glow would warm Snorkmaiden up and she’d feel it in her too, and she knew she was looking at him the same way, and oh how she cared for him. He was soft and kind to her, and he made her laugh, and he always thought about her.

Almost always.

Sometimes he thought about Snufkin more.

There was early spring, his eyes wandering, ears searching for a song. Sometimes Snorkmaiden thought only he could hear it. There were times when he’d go off in some direction, and even though Snufkin wasn’t playing his harmonica or humming a tune, Moomintroll would find him anyway.

There was waxing autumn, when the air grew nippy and they stole away together more often, disappearing into leaves that fell like rain, searching for every last pocket of warmth before Snufkin’s departure. Together, alone; without her.

Moomintroll would grow dream-like and clingy, to her and to Snufkin, but mostly to Snufkin, as if afraid he’d leave before he meant to, and Snorkmaiden couldn’t really blame him then. Whenever winter grew near, Snufkin grew somehow quieter too, and he’d look up and out like he was checking something in the sky, or maybe the far mountaintops, a sign perhaps, to tell him it was time to go. A part of Snorkmaiden hated that look for the way it always made Moomintroll sigh, but another part of her… the part that hated his sigh, too, and knew Moomintroll loved dark, somber eyes and brown hair… That part of her felt hopeful whenever Snufkin had that look.

And then Snorkmaiden would think something very cruel, and she would feel ashamed and torn, hoping that her silent wish would never be heard or granted, yet hoping at the same time that it would.

❀❊❀❊❀❊

One year, Snufkin waited until Moomintroll and his family had begun hibernating before he departed. It was always impossible to tell when Snufkin would take off, and usually it was a few days beforehand, when the snow was thick enough to swallow up your ankles. One time he’d gone as soon as the first flakes had begun to sprinkle Snorkmaiden’s blonde bangs. He had written his letter to Moomintroll that very same evening, and by morning he was gone.

But this particular winter, the snow was a great expanse over Moominvalley and all was white, and the Moomin family hosted a great feast the evening before they planned to go to bed for the season. They did this every year, and so everyone was present: Little My and Sniff and Mr. Hemulen had been invited, and Thingumy and Bob too, and Mymble and Too-Ticky as well. And it was when Snorkmaiden spied those two holding hands under the table, just a little, a subtle entwinement of the fingers, that she had her first concern about Snufkin.

She had never considered something like that.

One by one the guests left with full bellies and big smiles and well-wishes for the Moomnins. Snufkin and Snorkmaiden stayed late. Snork was on his way to pick Snorkmaiden up and walk her home, and Snufkin was simply waiting.

Moomintroll didn’t ask why. Snorkmaiden wanted to ask, but something made her hesitate, and so she never did. The three of them went up to Moomintroll’s room once he had trouble keeping his eyes open, and there, by his bed, Snorkmaiden realized that Snufkin was special, too.

Tucked under the blanket, Moomintroll waved Snorkmaiden over. He gave her one last touch for the season, a gentle press of his snout against hers, and for a moment she was warm despite the frost at his window or the strange sense of almost-dread, like an iceberg in her stomach. “Sweet dreams, Moomin,” she whispered, and that was that.

Then Moomintroll rolled onto his stomach and his lashes fluttered, and Snorkmaiden could see the fingers of his left paw peek out from the top of his blanket, close to where Snufkin was standing.

Snufkin and Moomintroll did not hug. Snorkmaiden had never seen them do it, not even once. They may have held one another before, if only to pull one out of a sand trap or catch whoever had stumbled and would fall otherwise. She’d seen them touch hands before, and she’d seen Moomintroll hold Snufkin’s hand, to pull him along or just because he was happy, waving it a bit as if they were dancing. It was as much as Snorkmaiden had ever supposed Snufkin would allow.

Here, now, Snufkin touched Moomintroll’s paw. Snorkmaiden knew that it was warm, despite the fact he almost never wore gloves. And it was only just a touch - the faintest connection of their hands. Snufkin’s long, pale fingertips snuck into the spaces between Moomintroll’s, just barely touching his fine white fur.

And then Snufkin began to hum a lullaby.

It was new, as far as Snorkmaiden was aware. She may have not been as close to Snufkin as Moomintroll was, but she liked his music and his voice, and she knew most of his songs. But this was something she knew, somehow, had no words, and perhaps it had never once been played on his harmonica. It came from Snufkin, just then, that very moment, and it was for Moomintroll. It didn’t matter that Snorkmaiden was still standing there near the foot of the bed, so cold. The last light of a winter day cast upon her pale not-yellow fur, and only her, so that she was apart from their penumbra.

❀❊❀❊❀❊

Snorkmaiden knew she loved Moomintroll. She knew that he felt the same way. It was clear in how he spoke her name, and how he held her, and how he knew which flowers she liked to look at and the ones she liked to smell and the ones she liked to pick and put into a crown. Clear in how he made her tea and how it wasn’t as good as Momma’s, but she drank it anyway, and how he’d rest his head in her lap to sleep when they were in the valley, and the grass sang to them, and the wind told them all was well.

Snorkmaiden knew she was Moomintroll’s Special Someone.

And Snufkin was his Special Something-Else.

And she thought that, perhaps, even though it was very odd... and sometimes it even hurt… it was okay for him to have two special people. If it made him happy. There would be no fear of Snufkin ever taking Moomintroll away from her, after all. And if Snufkin ever did disappear, off again in winter, never to return the following spring… then what of the primroses? What of Moomintroll’s smile?

Nowadays, when they walked together in summer, Snorkmaiden liked to hold Moomintroll’s right hand, so he might use his left for something else.

**Author's Note:**

> listen yall...
> 
> moomin... has TWO paws....


End file.
